Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Gary Cohn’s hand surgeon will
operate for another year, Vikram Pandit will help disadvantaged
children save for college and George Soros is sending aid to
threatened scholars.

Financial-industry executives are set to take leading roles
in New York’s nonprofit gala season.

“When people like Vikram step up and say, ‘I believe in
this organization, here’s what I’ve been doing,’ that’s gold for
us,” said Richard Buery, chief executive officer of the
Children’s Aid Society.

Pandit, CEO of Citigroup Inc., will be honored at the
society’s “Keeping the Promise” gala on Nov. 29 at 583 Park,
which has a $1,000 ticket. The spotlight will be on Citigroup’s
creation of a college savings program for grade-school children.
Citigroup has donated $2 million to the society over two
decades, Buery said.

George Soros kicks off the latest round of parties tomorrow
at Cipriani Wall Street, where the Institute for International
Education is honoring him as a founder of its Scholar Rescue
Fund. In 10 years the fund has given $16.5 million to 465
threatened scholars in 48 countries. The gala has a $1,250
ticket.

The same night at Cipriani 42nd Street, Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. Vice Chairman J. Michael Evans will join model Selita
Ebanks and actress Jemima Kirke of HBO’s “Girls” on behalf of
New Yorkers for Children. Evans is a chairman of the event,
which raises funds to support teenagers in the foster system as
they make the transition to adulthood. A path of lanterns will
express the “Light the Way” theme.

Gary Cohn

On Sept. 24, Goldman President and COO Gary Cohn will be
the chairman for the third year in a row of the New York
University Hospital for Joint Diseases and Center for
Musculoskeletal Care Gala. Cohn was a patient at the hospital
when he twisted his thumb while skiing. He’ll join honoree Jes
Staley, chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s corporate and
investment bank, under the blue whale at the American Museum of
Natural History.

Responsibilities of honorees and chairmen vary. Almost
always, they are expected to call on friends and customers to
buy tickets. And they lend their names to invitation marquees.

“When you have the right kind of committee chairs and
honorees, there’s a magnetism that attracts people,” said
Timothy Seiler, director of the Fund Raising School at the
Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University. “People say, I
want to work with that group or socialize with that group.”

John Paulson

And so the list goes on. On Nov. 5, John Paulson will help
New Yorkers connect to books and job resources as a first-time
chairman of the Library Lions gala at the New York Public
Library. He and other chairmen, including Blackstone Group’s
Steve Schwarzman, will greet guests on a receiving line in Astor
Hall.

The night after the presidential election, Apollo Global
Management’s Leon Black is a chairman, KKR & Co.’s Henry Kravis
a grandparent chairman, and industrialist David Koch the
underwriter of the $500-a-ticket Rockefeller University Parents
& Science Benefit Dinner.

The proceeds of the Nov. 7 event held on Rockefeller’s
Upper East Side campus will support the development of a Center
for Research on Child and Adolescent Health. An alumnus of the
university, Robert Lustig, will give a lecture titled “Darwin,
Diet, Disease and Dollars: How the Sugar in Processed Foods
Changed Society.”

Lia Neal

Financial executives and academics aren’t the only life of
the party. Olympic bronze medalist Lia Neal is the guest of
honor at a reception for Asphalt Green, where she trained, on
Sept. 19. On Oct. 22, Right to Play’s Red Ball Gala is expected
to draw Olympic gold medalists Joey Cheek, Allyson Felix, Picabo
Street as well as Goldman’s Evans, who won gold when he rowed
crew for Canada.

“My wife and I got involved because the organizing premise
-- that structured sport and play can be a powerful tool for
individual development -- resonates with the experiences that
shaped our upbringing,” said Evans, U.S. board chairman of
Right to Play.

These athletes and everyone else will get healthy fare,
said Liz Neumark, founder of Great Performances, which caters
150 fundraisers a year. Tomato-water shooters and farro instead
of mashed potatoes can be expected, Neumark said.

For those not into a night of black tie and ballroom, the
Global Poverty Project is organizing a Sept. 29 concert in
Central Park featuring Neil Young, the Black Keys and K’naan,
Robert Pattinson’s beloved rapper in the movie “Cosmopolis.”
Tonight is the deadline to enter a lottery for almost 60,000
free tickets, which requires recording action taken to fight
poverty. Ultimate Global VIP tickets are available for $689.50.